In a recent announcement, the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) has revealed its intention to extend the deadline for the phasing out of the old curriculum by one year.

This decision aims to provide students who may fail their exams this year with a second opportunity to sit for exams under the old curriculum in the following year.

Jennifer Kalule, the spokesperson for Uneb, made this announcement during a press conference held in Kampala on Monday.

She emphasized that this marks the first instance of curriculum change in Uganda, and there are concerns about students who might not perform well in the new system.

Additionally, there are students who, for various reasons, may not be able to take their exams this year, as well as adult learners who have been following the old curriculum.

Uneb has formally communicated this request to the Ministry of Education and Sports, asking for a one-year transition period to ensure that students or learners who have not taken exams this year can do so under the old curriculum.

This extension would accommodate students in the Senior Four category, who are currently the last batch of students following the old curriculum.

The new curriculum, introduced by the Ministry in 2020 for lower secondary education, emphasizes competency-based assessment through integrated activities and projects.

Under this system, Uneb will grade students based on a combination of continuous assessment (class work) and the final Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examination.

In this hybrid approach, 20 percent of the final UCE results will be derived from continuous assessment submitted by schools to Uneb through an online portal, while the remaining 80 percent will come from the UCE exam itself.

This marks a significant shift from the previous system where learners were evaluated solely based on their performance in Uneb examinations.